Published Sunday July 18, 2010
BY MARY GARRIGAN
RAPID CITY JOURNAL

WHITECLAY, Neb. — Business is booming in Whiteclay, and it’s not just the 4.6 million cans of beer sold there last year.

Many people know Whiteclay as the small, unincorporated village on the border of Nebraska and the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, a tiny spot on the map with a big alcohol problem. It’s where four beer stores sold 191,649 cases of beer in 2009, according to the Nebraska Liquor Commission. That translates into about 4.6 million cans. (more…)

Published Monday July 5, 2010
BY RANDALL HOWELL (Native Sun News Managing Editor)
NATIVE AMERICAN TIMES

WHITE CLAY, Neb. –– They will be back like a bad hangover.

And, they’ll be setting up what has become known as the Whiteclay Blockade – a blockade that serves as a one-day barrier to what amounts to the smuggling of alcohol – beer, mostly – onto the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. (more…)

Published Saturday May 1, 2010
THE PUBLIC PULSE (Letters to the Editor)
OMAHA WORLD-HERALD

An April 27 news story on Whiteclay, Neb., commendably focused on the cleanup efforts taking place. (more…)

Published Tuesday April 27, 2010
BY PAUL HAMMEL
OMAHA WORLD-HERALD

LINCOLN — Officials hope a weekend cleanup in the notorious border town of Whiteclay, Neb., will lead to more cleanups and a renewed effort to increase law enforcement. (more…)

Published Sunday April 25, 2010
BY KEVIN ABOUREZK
LINCOLN JOURNAL STAR

WHITECLAY – Jack Andersen pulled beer cans and plastic bottles from a flooded ditch Saturday, trying to make a dent in the pile of garbage that had collected for untold months and years in a neglected corner of this village near Pine Ridge, S.D. (more…)

Published Tuesday March 30, 2010
STAFF EDITORIAL
SCOTTSBLUFF STAR HERALD

SCOTTSBLUFF, NEB. — Over the years we’ve grown skeptical of efforts to “solve” the problem of beer sales in Whiteclay.

Much of the noise seems calculated to promote the careers of celebrity “activists” rather than address the real problem, which is rampant alcoholism on the nearby Pine Ridge Reservation. Critics of the beer merchants have always found it convenient to overlook that those buying the beer are willing customers who would simply look elsewhere if the Whiteclay stores were shut down. (more…)

Published Monday March 29, 2010
BY PAUL HAMMEL
OMAHA WORLD-HERALD

LINCOLN — After years of effort and scores of meetings, there is good news about Whiteclay, the Nebraska border town known as the “skid row of the Plains”:

– The Oglala Sioux Tribe, along with a group of Nebraskans, announced success in a complicated six-year effort to locate a 70-bed nursing home near Whiteclay.

– A faith-based nonprofit is getting a $30,000 federal stimulus grant to create jobs by starting a recycling business, greenhouse and possibly a day-labor endeavor.

– A religious-based group that runs a soup kitchen and craft mall in Whiteclay is holding a communitywide cleanup April 22 through 25. It will be funded by a $10,000 grant from the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office. (more…)

Published Sunday February 7, 2010
BY JOHN KREJCI
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
LINCOLN JOURNAL STAR

I was encouraged to read that “State leaders, others focus on Whiteclay” (Jan. 31). The problems of alcoholism and Nebraska’s shame of profiting from beer sales to Natives need to be addressed. When Nebraskans for Peace raised the issue in 1999, few even knew the Nebraska beer sales were contributing to Native alcoholism.

Although it is encouraging that Nebraska’s governor and state legislators have begun to address the problem, their initial solutions – a town cleanup, a recycling center and a mini-mall – do little to address the tragedy of Nebraska’s skid row of the Plains. (more…)

Published Sunday January 31, 2010
BY KEVIN ABOUREZK
LINCOLN JOURNAL STAR

Bruce BonFleur sees more than desperation, more than sadness in the eyes of the men and women he meets every day on the dusty streets of Whiteclay.

He sees hope, and he sees a desire to improve their lives.

“The street people of Whiteclay and Pine Ridge matter,” he said. “They are entitled to our help, and they are able to help themselves.” (more…)

Published Sunday January 17, 2010
BY PAUL HAMMEL
OMAHA WORLD-HERALD

LINCOLN — With its street drunks, vacant buildings and blowing trash, Whiteclay, Neb., has earned the title of “Skid Row of the Plains.”

But an effort is under way to create more jobs in the border town, creating some opportunity behind the decay and despair.

And another plan focuses on physically cleaning up the unincorporated community and providing more alcoholism treatment, law enforcement and jobs there. (more…)